U.S. stocks settled lower on Friday, with the Dow Jones index falling more than 200 points during the session following a disappointing jobs report.
Nonfarm payrolls grew by a meager 22,000 in August, after July's weak 79,000 and a June revision showing a 13,000 job loss — the worst since 2020. The three-month hiring pace has collapsed to 29,000, locking in expectations for Fed rate cuts in September, October and December.
Wall Street analysts make new stock picks on a daily basis. Unfortunately for investors, not all analysts have particularly impressive track records at predicting market movements. Even when it comes to one single stock, analyst ratings and price targets can vary widely, leaving investors confused about which analyst’s opinion to trust.
Benzinga’s Analyst Ratings API is a collection of the highest-quality stock ratings curated by the Benzinga news desk via direct partnerships with major sell-side banks. Benzinga displays overnight ratings changes on a daily basis three hours prior to the U.S. equity market opening. Data specialists at investment dashboard provider Toggle.ai recently uncovered that the analyst insights Benzinga Pro subscribers and Benzinga readers regularly receive can successfully be used as trading indicators to outperform the stock market.
Top Analyst Picks: Fortunately, any Benzinga reader can access the latest analyst ratings on the Analyst Stock Ratings page. One of the ways traders can sort through Benzinga’s extensive database of analyst ratings is by analyst accuracy. Here’s a look at the most recent stock picks from each of the five most accurate Wall Street analysts, according to Benzinga Analyst Stock Ratings.
Analyst: Jay McCanless
- Analyst Firm: Wedbush
- Ratings Accuracy: 87%
- Latest Rating: Reiterated an Outperform rating on Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL) with a price target of $165 on Sept. 5. This analyst sees around 12% upside in the stock.
- Recent News: On Aug. 19, Toll Brothers reported third-quarter revenue of $2.95 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion, according to Benzinga Pro.
Analyst: Trevor Walsh
- Analyst Firm: JMP Securities
- Ratings Accuracy: 87%
- Latest Rating: Reiterated a Market Outperform rating on Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) with a price target of $355 on Sept. 3. This analyst sees around 29% upside in the stock.
- Recent News: On Sept. 2, Zscaler reported fourth-quarter revenue of $719.23 million, beating the consensus estimate of $706.91 million.
Analyst: John Todaro
- Analyst Firm: Needham
- Ratings Accuracy: 87%
- Latest Rating: Initiated coverage on WhiteFiber, Inc. (NASDAQ:WYFI) with a Buy rating and a price target of $34 on Sept. 2. This analyst expects around 108% surge in the stock.
- Recent News: On Aug. 7, the company prices its IPO at $17 per share.
Analyst: William Stein
- Analyst Firm: Truist Securities
- Ratings Accuracy: 86%
- Latest Rating: Maintained a Buy rating on Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) and raised the price target from $295 to $365 on Sept. 5. This analyst expects around 4% gain in the stock.
- Recent News: On Sept. 4, Broadcom reported third-quarter revenue of $15.95 billion, beating analyst estimates of $15.83 billion, according to Benzinga Pro.
Analyst: Doug Anmuth
- Analyst Firm: JP Morgan
- Ratings Accuracy: 86%
- Latest Rating: Maintained an Overweight rating on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and increased the price target from $232 to $260 on Sept. 3. This analyst expects 10% growth in the stock.
- Recent News: On July 30, eBay reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and issued third-quarter sales guidance above estimates.
Read More:
Photo via Shutterstock
